Perkii probiotic raises $3m for USA expansion

PERKii Probiotics a food tech start-up, spun out from the University of Queensland has raised $3 million from Uniseed, angels and the Advance Queensland Development Fund, to launch its low calorie probiotic drink technology in the US.

Launched in mid 2016, the drink is now now in 2,000 stores across ANZ incl. Coles and Woolies.

So what is this drink?

The PERKii range includes four natural fruit flavours with each bottle containing 1 billion CFUs (colony forming units) and just 37 calories. The drink uses patent-protected ProGel technology that protects the probiotic in a natural coating to create on-shelf stability and enhance the probiotic’s survival through the acidic stomach environment.

The market size of US$21.8 billion will make this product interesting, especially with consumer demand for high quality probiotic supplements growing as we learn how a healthy gut can positively influence overall health and wellbeing.